This has to be one of my favourite pregnancy photography sessions this year! Meet Aleksandra and adorable toddler Arianna whom I photographed in Richmond Park, South West London in early September. Aleksandra commissioned these family portraits to celebrate Arianna's Ist year, as well as providing a beautiful record of her second pregnancy. Needless to say I was a little obsessed with Aleksandra's incredible Rapunzel-like hair which looked amazing in the soft, glowing light, although I kept having to watch that I didn't accidently crop out the ends as I composed each image!
Richmond Park family portraits
Richmond Park is such a beautiful location for family photography in London all year round. It's nearly always full of colour and life, whether with tall golden reedbeds, purple heather in the middle of winter or fields of grasses. For example, you can see in the photographs below how the fluffy seedheads of willowherb add beautiful texture and interest to the portraits. Little Arianne was particularly fascinated with these!
Autumn portraits
In Autumn the sunset is now earlier and earlier in the day, which is great for family portraits involving toddlers - who are usually in bed by sunset in the summer! The benefit to this time of year is that "golden hour" is now earlier and the sun is lower in the sky, giving that beautiful golden glow you can see in these images. Whilst the leaves have not yet changed colour, they are not far off doing so, and already there are gorgeous autumnal colours and tones - Aleksandra matched her pretty maxi dress to these perfectly!
Family photography
As with most 18 month old toddlers that I photograph, Arianna was lighting-quick on her feet and quickly bored! We made sure to keep her entertained with bubbles, toys and whatever we could find in the natural environment. It's a particularly tricky age to photograph for parents - and one of the most challenging for me - but also one of the most rewarding! I think my favourite photos of the whole session are those right at the end, when Arianna had tired and was ready for some mummy cuddles. So sweet! Here's some of my favourites from the whole family photoshoot below.
